Edana:
A few moments pass and your p-sec chirps with an incoming message.

>>>>>[How about his last known location? As for what I want, in on the hunt. Don't fret about the nuyen, I don't want any. ]<<<<<

---Christopher Robbin [15:48:46/16-DEC2063]

"I can make the call to the air cab if necessary si... Edana." Gonzales shakes his head as if to clear it. "and I don't really need a seat, we'll just get a water skiing rope and a pair of frypans for when the road peters out."

"I can take my bike, if you'll let Kane ride with you. I will also need you to take my shotgun, but I can carry the rest. That should free up some space. Or you can carry all my gear and someone can ride on the back...if they dont mind the cold too much."

Tiny smiles at the idea of riding on a motor bike. One day he will have his own Harley Scorpion. A lush apartment. His daffel bag over his shoulder, looking on towards the planners. "So, where I dump this?"

"Okay, then...lets roll. Any one riding with me? Tiny dont give me that look, we are not both gonna fit on my bike."

"Kane, go with Bishop." JT points to him and Kane obediently trots over to Bishop's side and sits. JT hands his shotgun off to be carried in one of the Brumbies, then throws his pack over his shoulder as he heads outside once again.

The streets are completely empty, and eerily quiet. With the combination of cold and biological attack it is not unexpected, but it still sends a chill up JT's spine. He hasnt seen the city half this dead since he has lived here. Even the suburbs of Sacramento still had activity into the wee hours of the night. The growling engine of his Scorpion shake nearby windows as it comes to life. Tagart watches the door of Edena's building waiting on the rest of the team to join him.

"Alright, I'll go with anyone who can swing a ride back to my place," Helios says.

"Let's get this guy."

"Hop on Helios, we'll swing by and grab your drek, then meet up with the team at the drop off point."

Edana makes a last check of everything, grabbing what snacks she can and ushering everyone out the door. She doublechecks that the trid is set to record her shows and heads out, locking up behind her.

"Gonzales, Tiny, Charlie, Herne - with me. The rest of you in the other brumby. See you when we meet our guide."

"You guys ready to get real cozy again?" She grins and tosses her long hair over her shoulder and trips down the stairs to the garage. She hops in and while everyone is getting situated she slips into the Astral and politely asks Sally to keep an eye on things.

Bishop loads up everyone else in his Brumby and follows Edana to the meet point.

Over the last several hours combined Lonestar and Military efforts have cleared the streets and most people are locked tightly in doors. The mini caravan of SUVs draws no attention as you drive to the meet site. A manhole sits slightly off base as you pile out of the Brumby's and wait for JT and Helios to arrive.

With the whole team together, you begin the slow descent into the grimy, dark sewer. Herne looks to Edana with a look that can only be translated to "what a wonderful smell you've discovered." Kane looks unhappy about having to be passed from one team member to another to get down the ladder but takes it with his own personal sense fo canine shame. Crossing the small room, the team open the only door leading out of the access point and sees a young troll in baggy jeans and torn shirt that molds to every inch of his muscular frame.

"Ready?"

With nods of ascent, the boy shrugs and heads deeper into the sewers. Run off from the snow and salted streets has coated the bottom of the larges pipes with water colder than ice that won't quite freeze. You pass through sections of sewer into the actual Underground where small thriving pockets of life spring up with the hardness and tenacity to make you give pause.

The team pauses when the guide needs a break, sharing water and field rations of jerky and granola amongst yourselves. After several hours, when you've almost lost track of the time, your guide points to a large grate before turning back and you lose him in the track of shadows and darkness. Pushing the grate open, you can see the sun just cresting the eastern horizon. A rope hangs down, looking up you can see it connects to the overpass above.

"I'll go first and scout the place out."

Without another word Bishop steps towards the rope and seems to fade from veiw as he turns on his Ruthenium Polymers. The rope begins to wiggle, letting you know he is climbing.

Bishop:
Climbing the rope is an easy exercise for you. As you reach the overpass, you come over the lip slowly and see a small clock counting down from three minutes. About a mile and a half down the highway, the last sentry stands on duty, making sure no one has gotten past the other layers of guards closer to the city proper.

Bishop checks out the clock to see if it is wired to something or has a radio detenator attached to it. Hmmm... looks like a normal clock...

Transduced over the comms, "Everyone up on the double. I found something fishy that I can't make heads or tails of."

In the Underground

Edana moves cautiously in the dark passageways, stubbing toes, tripping and barking her shins on more than one occasion. Her mood grows darker as the trip wears on. She slinks down the twisting passages, marveling that people can actually live down here. Such a shame people have to or choose to live in this... During the break she writes a message to Christopher Robbin but can connect to the grid to send it. She mutters darkly and saves the draft to send later.

When the reach the end of the line she puts down her pack and stretches her back for a second. She straightens, turning to the young troll, "Thanks for..." She blinks and stares into the darkness, "Where'd he go?"

---------

At the Rope

Edana eyes the rope dubiously and flexes her thin, scarred arms. When Bishop calls them, she quickly wraps a hand around the rope and tries to shinny up. Slipping and fumbling for purchase she posits, "I'm probably not deft enough to make it up this. She looks at Herne, whose feet are off the ground, gaze fixed on the open sky beyond the grating.

Herne... I apologize for making you trek with us down here. But I couldn't carry all of your gear by myself.

Grab on.

Herne considers his clothes and his gear, debating whether or not to change forms. He shrugs and puts down his big sea-bag. Hunching down he pats his thigh at Edana, grinning.

Come on, girl. His voice in her head is chipper. C'mere. Edana squints at Herne before she hops onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. The spirit hitches her up, grabbing her legs. Good girl! Edana squeezes a little too tight and the spirit laughs as he ascends near the rope.

He stops near the top and lets Edana clamber off of him with Bishop's help.

"Thanks, guys." Edana flushes, red tinging the pale and storm-mottled skin of her cheeks.

Herne dives back down and grabs his bag before flying up and out onto the ground. He eyes the clock suspiciously.

"What is that?" He growls in his thick brogue.

"Hey, what's going on up there?" Helios says over the com. "Is it safe?"

"No. Now get your ass up here." Bishop says over the comm, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, oh holy one," Helios says, in an even more sarcastic reference to his teammate's street name as he climbs up the rope.

"Uhh...Herne...Do you think you can give Kane a lift to?" After setting the bulk of his equipment on a small patch of dry concrete JT lifts the large dog into his arms.

The lowlight environment of the underground is not a hindrance to Graves. His natural elven vision enables him to see almost as clearly as day. He is less bothered by the dirty surroundings than his teammates.

Flashback episode during one of the stops:

A vaguely familiar man clad in green camos motions to you, pointing to tracks made in the sewer muck and marks on the walls, he whispers,"Ghouls." You remember yourself nodding agreement, before the man takes point once more.

At the rope he peers carefully at the surrounding and changes the colour scheme on his Rapid Transit coverall into a more suitable camouflage scheme from the urban camo scheme he used in the city.

With Bishop cloaked in refracted light and polymer, Herne lifts his storm-shrouded mistress over the edge of the highway. The spirit descends to pick up the various sacks fo gear as Charlie begins the slow ascent up the rope.

Helios and Graves share a look at the rope before glancing out over the flood plain that carries runoff from the sewer down natural passages and waterways to the Sound. During the spring this area is drowned in several inches of water, now it is spotted with patches of ice and snow built up around the support pylons for the seven lane freeway overpass between the Seattle Bridge and 5 South.

Once the rope stops wiggling from it's previous climber, the former Ranger starts climbing up the line. The vampire hunter is left looking out over the open area almost swearing that he could make out Harbor Island off to his left. Tiny, Gonzales and JT wait their turn to climb as Herne descends once more to take Kane up to the meet spot.

After reaching the surface Kane thanks Herne with a friendly lick on the spirit's face. Kane then scouts the surrounding area, searching for any unfamiliar scents.

JT awaits his turn to climb the rope as Bishop makes his way out of the underground. The reflected light of the night sky is welcomed on his face after the dark trek through the belly of the city. The sooner he can get above ground the better. Wilderness experience has taught JT that you need to keep your feet dry when out in the elements, and thats been hard to do, slushing around the icy runoff for the past few hours.

Grave slithers up the rope like a snake, quiet and efficient. For some reason climbing up to the pylon brings to his mind the picture of an ice-encrusted oil rig in a stormy Artic sea. Reaching the surface, he brings his primary weapon to a ready position and moves off in search of more cover.

Herne recoils from Kane's sloppy thanks, blinking. He shrugs his shoulders uncomfortably and turns to the others just as Edana is schooling her face from amusement to feigned seriousness.

Don't think that I won't remember this when I next come in from the snow.

Edana isn't sure if Herne is referring to the lick or the laughing. She has a sneaking suspicion it's both.

"Guys, I'm going to take a look around." She sits, duffel cradled in her lap, she leans over it making sure that when her body goes slack she won't fall over.

Closing her physical eyes she opens herself to her second sight. She peers around.

Dawn approaches as Helios clears the tunnel at a dead run. He leaps several meters into the air, hitting the support pylon for the overpass, feet scrambling to make purchase. Unable to run up the vertical surface of the support column, the hunter throws his body backwards reaching up and out for the rope. With a mid-air twist, he grabs ahold of the rope and muscles his way up the rest of the length before climbing over the guard rail.

The cord waivers in the air for the last two team members to make their ascent.

"Damn it feels good to be a ninja," Helios says confidently as he walks away from the manhole he just exited.

Tiny waits for the last person to climb the rope and clear the manhole. Grabbing the rope, and giving it a good yank and tug. The rope whooshes under the strain as Tiny lifts his body wieght off the ground. His steady climb gets him to the top in no time. Pulling himself through the manhole the troll stretches and takes a deep breath of fresh air, compaired to the tunnels.

"See you at the top Charlie, hope you dont get scared down here alone." JT pats him on the shoulder before starting his climb. Hand over hand, the ex-police officer clambers up the rope. At a quick and steady pace JT reaches the top of the manhole where he pulls himself out. Kane runs over to greet his partner at the first sight of him emerging from the depths of Ork Underground.

JT scans the group quickly spotting Herne. "Thank you Herne for grabbing Kane."

While waiting on the last man to rise from the storm drain, JT pulls from his pack some dry socks. Taking off his boots he turns them upside down to let any collected water run out. He replaces the boots over clean dry socks and is ready to move once again.

"Feh. Kids these days. Thinking an old man like me is easily scared."

Charlie waited until JT got up the rope, then started up himself.

"Well? What now? We stand around and look pretty until our ride shows up?"

The timer reads two minutes as the last member of the team clears the rope. You begin to debate courses of action and time clicks by softly. When the timer is about to thirty seconds you hear the sound of a small jet building on the horizon. A private chartered aircraft comes down hot on the overpass, before taxiing down the four lane stretch to you.

The door opens and a thin elf waves to you. "All aboard for New York City." He glances down the length of freeway where the last patrolman has seen the jet land and the lonestar rookie obviously wasn't prepped for this scenario.

Herne simply nods to JT and raises his eyebrows appreciatively at Helios' acrobatics.

Impressive.

Eh? What? What'd I miss? Edana's eyes blink several times as she refocuses on the physical world. She shakes her head and stands.

"All clear in the Astral, guys. If everything else seems alright, I'm going to go ahead and send this reply to our 'man in New York.'" She murmurs into the Battle Tac system while fishing out her p-sec. In a few moments the message is sent.

>>>>>[Sorry for the delay in response - getting out of town is no picnic. We hope to be inbound soon. Consider yourself in. Will resume contact when we arrive.]<<<<<
--Sturmdottir [19:20:33/16-DEC2063]

Edana waits, tense, as she watches the clock ticking down. Wish we knew what this clock w--

Holy!

"Well," she grins shouldering her bags and clambering onboard, "You certainly know how to make an entrance. Thanks for taking Townsend's call. Edana O'Reilly." She moves to the back of the jet and stows her bags securely.

Herne, you okay with staying material or do you want to drop your stuff in here and fly?

Let's see... stay cooped up with you lot or streak across the skies on the hunt...

Alright, alright. Just dematerialize on the plane, hey, so I can fold up your stuff.

Herne nods a greeting to the elf as he slips aboard and vanishes in a pile of camo and gear.

"Mind a bit of spirit recon?" Edana grins.

Helios immediately jumps aboard the plane, taking his "luggage" with him.

"Looks like ya answered my question for me. Well, how about giving an old man a hand up, eh?"

With a bit of trouble, mainly faked because he liked giving young'uns trouble, he was in and seated, patting his trusty crowbar.

"Well? Is there enough time for me to take a nap? Us old people like to sleep, remember?"

JT grabs his gear and jogs toward the aircraft with Kane at his side. On approach Kane leaps into the plane, while JT stands just outside the door, waiting for the team to load up. His hand rests on his pistol loaded with stun rounds, just in case.

After the last man of the team enters the craft, he climbs aboard, closes the door securing it. "We are all on board, Captain. Next stop New York." JT takes a seat where Kane rejoins him.

Once the team has climbed on board, the thin elf slaps the door to the pilot's cabin twice. You feel a smooth acceleration as the plane begins to taxi down the highway, gaining acceleration much faster than it should. The highway drops out from underneath the plane as the overpass swings down and to the right, but the engines give a firm thrust into the air.

The team is able to settle back and feel like you are once again on the trail as you quickly close the gap between you and your prey.

Tiny finally settles in to a sturdy seat that will take his wieght.
"Well old man you can get some shut eye." As Tiny settles for some uninterupted shut eye.

Gonzales looks at Tiny with an undisguised look of envy, at the trolls current ability to sleep. Bloody long haul, it's probably gonna save my hoop but oh for the ability to dream right now

"Can't sleep?" asks Graves,"Get our resident spell worms to stun you insensible." Graves grins. Graves remains alert, trust is a precious commodity in the shadows. He is more than aware that their lives are in the hands of the smugglers now and he does not have any wish to enjoy the hospitality of the border police more than necessary.

"I think I better get some rest, too. Dont know how late we'll be up tomorrow night." He leans back in the seat with his jacket tucked behind his head as a pillow as he drifts off into never-never land.

Helios falls asleep about 5 minutes after take-off, more than happy to do what he can to keep his nocturnal internal clock running normally.

Charlie was asleep even before Tiny said that it would be possible. The question was just rhetoric, as fits his personality.

As continues sleeping, Helios's mind replays his past exploits in his head...

"Better keep running, suckhead!" Helios says as he runs through the apartment complex. "You can't hide from justice forever!"

Two more piranha-toothed ghouls jumped out in front of the hunter as he nears the landing, snarling at him and ready to devour his flesh. Helios points two guns at the beasts, an Uzi each, and fires, sending grayish flesh, blood and gray matter spraying into the wall.

"There's only so many floors in a building, fang-face! It's the end of the line!"

Deciding to skip a floor or two, Helios Great Leaps up a couple stairwells and keeps on running, his black trenchcoat trailing behind him like a superhero's cape.

Nothing would stop him from bringing this vampire down. Nothing.

Not even the corridor full of ghouls that stood between him and the last staircase up to the roof.

Quickly moving to his belt, Helios unhooks a few concussion grenades and tosses them down the corridor.

The explosives go off like a series of thunderclaps, sending most of the ghouls crashing to the floor and tearing apart those unlucky enough to be standing at ground zero. The rest Helios deals with the old-fashioned way without them ever getting close.

Better not risk it, Helios thinks as he walks past the unconscious ghouls. Barely even noticing the dozen or so witnesses staring out from their now-destroyed doors thanks to the grenades, he shoots each unconscious ghoul through the head before dashing off to the staircase.

Time to finish this fight, the hunter thinks.

Arriving at the rooftop, the black-garbed vampire hunter steps towards the roof edge where his prey waits, the gravel crunching under his boots with every step.

"There's no escape, murderer!" Helios shouts, his eyes practically turning red with rage.

The pale white-skinned, black-haired man turns to face his hunter, his black Tacoma Timberwolves T-shirt and blue jeans making him look just like any other person in Seattle.

Which was just how he'd wanted it, to hunt down his victims.

"You think you can kill me?" the vampire sneers. "Pah! You cattle are all alike! No one has stood against me -"

"You are nothing but a schoolyard bully, preying on the weak! Now lets see how you fight one of their protectors!"

Red rage burning in his eyes, Helios rushes the vampire, unsheathing his katana and leaping at him, striking downwards. But the bloodsucker spins aside, causing the blade to whistle through air.

Completely expecting this, Helios shifts into a sidewards slash without pause, catching his prey at the waist and drawing a loud howl of pain and a spray of stolen blood.

Not wasting a single motion, Helios pulls out his Colt Manhunter - loaded with custom oak-jacketed ammo - and fires, catching the vampire in the stomach and dropping him to the ground.

Walking over to the murdering suckhead, Helios pulls a wooden stake out of his belt, straddling his stomach and preparing to drive it in...

The vamp hisses and starts upwards...

And Helios grabs him by the neck.

"Think I haven't seen that before, monster?!" he yells, punching the vampire's face.

"How does it feel, huh?! How does it feel to be totally helpless, waiting to die at the hands of someone you thought your prey?!! HOW DOES IT FEEL NOW THAT THE TABLES ARE TURNED, AFTER YOU KILLED 30 PEOPLE?!!!"

The vampire, unable to speak, merely chokes.

Hoisting the wooden stake over his head with one hand, Helios prepares for the fatal strike...

"TAKE IT!!!!!! TAKE IT TO HELL YOU EVIL!!!

*stab*

PIECE!

*stab*

OF SHIT!!!!!!"

The third and final strike hits the vampire's heart, landing so hard that Helios's fist is embedded in the hole in his chest that it makes. Soon after, the vampire dissolves into dust, ending any doubt as to whether or not it'll ever stalk the night again.

"Your kind will all be destroyed," Helios vows as the dusty remains scatter to the winds. "Even if I have to do it myself."

Helios awakens from his dream/memory, fully rested.

Biship gets some rest himself while the flight is in progress, but after three hours he is up and looking fresh.

Leaning foward to the pilot, he asks, "How we doin'?"

Time passes as the plane works towards the East Coast. Moments of tension faded after getting past the authority of local authorities and the transponder signal had been changed. The pilot nods to Bishop.

"We're moving right along, should be there in a few more hours."

A beep from the p-sec in Edana's pack gives notice that another e-mail has come in.

>>>>>[Sucks to be you. Your gift has been sent to Geneve, the name on the package is Jordan. I'm going to try to track it down there but any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.]<<<<<
--Christopher Robbin [23:12:52/16-DEC2063]

Elsewhere a pale man of British descent walks through the airport, his skin darkening as he changes to be a tall Asian male. He boards the plane shortly after his mark.

"I'm rigged for BattleTac, mind if I tap into your sensors to help guide us through any trouble that may come up?"

Tiny snorts and grunts as he lies asleep. Having the time to sleep with a slow drone of the aircraft being the only noise, and the fact that the only stranger is the pilots.

Treasuring the sleep is well deserved, as the coffins are really not so comfortable, the noise is unbearable through the paper thin wall. This is like a vacation, while at least whuile he is a sleep.

Bishop:
"Feel free to look if you want to, out here there shouldn't be anything more than cows and corporate farms."

Bishop nods and pulls out an optical cord, plugging himself into the 'dashboard' of the craft. He leans back in his seat, letting the vehicle's sensors flood the BattleTac system. An extra set of eyes never hurt anything.

Edana sleeps in fits and starts. She dreams of flying through the Astral with Herne as he races, white hound's body stretching in sky-eating strides, tongue lolling. They are chasing a fox through the snow. Edana crouches low over her skis and tucks her arms in. She powesr down a steep slope and springs, landing nearly on top of a startled man drinking tea on balcony overlooking massive snow-capped mountains. A menu sits before him... she can almost make out the name at the top... Chateau...

Edana jerks awake with a yelp and takes a moment to realize where she is. Must have fallen asleep. Glad Gonzales is here... She smiles at her friend who's looks wound a bit too awake just now.

You have a message, Sturmdottir. Herne's sending is laced with racing astral images. Unfathomable vistas. Unimaginable spirits.

How...

I heard the chime through your ears. I didn't know you could ski.

Uh...

Edana shakes her head and fishes out her pocket secretary. She blinks, bleary eyed and not yet awake at the monitor as she retrieves the message. She reads it and puzzles over what might help find their mark. She starts a message, entering the flight info for the Zurich Orbital into the message. Something gnaws at her hind brain. Geneva. White. Snow. The dream. Chateau...

"Hey... Bishop," Edana calls up to the cockpit, "You scouted out that room that had our mark at various Chateaus. Do you remember what any of their names were?"

To the wakeful members of the team she says, "Looks like New York isn't our last stop."

Bishop turns around in his head to look at Edana. "Sure, give me one sec."

An instant later, the BattleTac network starts to pop up pictures from the video feed Bishop has.